Top House Republican says 2015 Blinken speech contradicts Biden White House narrative on Shokin: 'Alarming'
The Biden White House has maintained that Viktor Shokin was fired for not adequately investigating corruption
By Jessica Chasmar , Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published September 14, 2023 11:14am EDT
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., on Wednesday accused President Biden of "corruptly [changing] the United States’ policy towards Ukraine," during the Obama administration, pointing to a 2015 speech from now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken praising Ukraine’s "anti-corruption" efforts when Viktor Shokin was the country’s prosecutor general.
"This is corruption at the highest levels of federal government and one of many reasons why House Republicans have launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden," Stefanik told Fox News Digital.
The timing of Blinken’s praise toward the Ukraine government in March 2015 raises questions about the White House’s insistence that then-Vice President Joe Biden was pushing for Ukraine officials to fire Shokin because he was not fulfilling his duties in prosecuting corruption.
Nearly a year after Hunter Biden joined Burisma’s board in April 2014, Shokin was appointed the prosecutor general of Ukraine, inheriting multiple investigations into Burisma and its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. Shokin was fired in March 2016 amid international pressure, including from the Obama administration, over alleged corruption.
Blinken’s comments in Germany came roughly four months before he held a meeting with Hunter Biden at the State Department on July 22, 2015, Fox News Digital previously reported.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Stefanik's claim is "based on dubious allegations" and reiterated the White House position that the international community expressed legitimate concerns about Shokin's inadequate prosecution of corruption.
On Tuesday, House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter to Blinken highlighting comments from multiple Obama administration officials also praising Shokin’s office in 2015.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-house-republican-says-2015-blinken-speech-contradicts-biden-white-house-narrative-shokin
